The solid black in the Aztec Eagle tattoo design, or the hectic placement on the neck of the reference to Quetzalcoatl –the Feathered Serpent deity, who also featured in Mayan tattoo culture – are good examples moving away from large scale black and gray illustration.

7. Skull Tattoo Designs

Aztec society – which thrived on the Warrior ethos as well as massive amounts of superstition and shamanism – there are going to be a lot of skulls. These tattoos very much fall into the latter category, as the headdress wearing skulls of Aztec chief, warrior, and mystical dead guys can attest. 

8. Aztec Back Tattoos

A heady mix of traditional Aztec style tattooing merged with modern day Chicano script. The detail of the background elements are popular Aztec tropes such as temple, warrior, and intertwining patterned art. The central, focal point images are the zero space Chicano fonts, hollowed out and unblemished they thrust forward against the busy gray background.

These uniformly massive full back tattoos demonstrate the commitment to quality, intricate black and gray shading work. These examples are rich in both detail, and time spent in the tattoo artist’s chair. They’re a remarkable testament to tattoo commitment.

Some of these examples show how closely the traditional Aztec body art style meshes closely with the more modern Chicano style of tattooing that developed in the Southern US prison system.

9. Sleeve and Half Sleeve Tattoo Ideas

These sleeve and half sleeve depictions are fantastically rich in detail and personality. They’re very much the hallmark idea of traditional Aztec style tattoo. These pieces take the important elements – warriors, symbolism, stone effects or the sun – and tie them into elaborate half or full-length sleeve designs.

10. Aztec Tribe Stone Art